The present invention relates to a new and distinct daylily plant, Hemerocallis ‘Raspberry Eclipse’ hereinafter also referred to as the new plant or just the cultivar name, ‘Raspberry Eclipse’. Hemerocallis ‘Raspberry Eclipse’ was hybridized by the inventor, Chris Meyer, in the spring of 2004 in a greenhouse at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA. The new plant originated from a breeding program conducted by the inventor with the specific intention to improve the garden worthiness, expand color regimens and increase flowering period which were some of the criteria of further trials in the trial beds at the same nursery in Zeeland, Mich. The female or seed parent was ‘Southern Wind’ (not patented) and the male or pollen parent was ‘Spiny Sea Urchin’ (not patented). The new plant was selected as a single seedling from this cross, and after confidential evaluations in a trial bed beginning in 2006 in Zeeland, Mich. was assigned the breeder code 04-10-3. The new plant has been asexually propagated by division at the same wholesale nursery in Zeeland, Mich. since 2007 with all resultant asexually propagated plants having retained all the same unique traits as the original plant. Hemerocallis ‘Raspberry Eclipse’ is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
There are nearly 90,000 registered daylilies with The American Hemerocallis Society, which is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for the genus Hemerocallis. In comparison to the new plant, the female parent has a pastel lavender-pink flower color with a yellow watermark, a yellow-gold braided edge and a green throat. ‘Southern Wind’ also has a slightly taller flower scape with more branching and more flowers. In comparison to the new plant, the male parent has a much deeper lavender flower with a gold spiny edge on the inner tepal set and a green throat. ‘Spiny Sea Urchin’ is also slightly taller in scape with more branches and flowers.
The most similar daylily known to the inventor are ‘A Groovy Kind of Love’ (not patented), ‘Alpha and Omega’ (not patented), ‘Always Afternoon’ (not patented), ‘All Things to All Men’ (not patented), ‘Audience of One’ (not patented), ‘Cosmic Struggle’ (not patented) and ‘Repeat the Sounding Joy’ (not patented).
‘A Groovy Kind of Love’ has flowers with pink-mauve veined petals with lavender cast, a purple rim surrounding a lavender-purple eye and green throat on slightly taller scapes. ‘Alpha and Omega’ has flowers with a dark pink-lavender with purple eye and lavender feathering toward a green throat, and a triple edge of grape on slightly taller scapes. ‘Always Afternoon’ has flowers of a medium mauve that are edged in buff, a purple eye-zone and green throat on shorter scapes. ‘All Things to All Men’ has flowers with a dark pink-lavender, etched in gray-lavender eye and bordered in gray-lavender with a yellow edge and green throat on slightly taller scapes with more branching and flowers. ‘Audience of One’ has flowers that are rose-lavender with violet-grape eye, grape-lavender and ivory edge with a yellow to green throat on slightly taller scapes. ‘Cosmic Struggle’ has cranberry-grape flowers etched with a dark lavender watermark and a lavender and ivory-gold edge with a green throat on similar height scapes. ‘Repeat the Sounding Joy’ has flowers that are pink-cranberry with cranberry etched dark lavender eye, an ivory edge and chartreuse throat on slightly taller scapes.
Hemerocallis ‘Raspberry Eclipse’ differs from all other daylilies known to the applicant, by the combination of the following traits:                1. Winter-hardy, compact habit with clean medium-green foliage with purplish-bronze blush that goes dormant in the winter;        2. Fragrant, single, limbate, rounded flowers about 15 cm across of raspberry-purple with a lavender-purple band, highlighted by a ruffled, lemon-yellow, picotee edge and light green throat;        3. Outer tepals with consistent, considerable, yellow crisped margins.        4. Tepals slightly reflexed;        5. Plants produce three-way branched scapes of about 67 cm tall with up to 14 flowers per scape;        6. Flowering begins about mid-July with excellent coverage;        